Names may have been changed to protect those who are presumed to be innocent.
To tell you this story, I first need to give you some background.
One of my best friends in the world is a very sick guy....
sick both in the "ill" sense of the word,
and in the mentally warped sense.
Perry is 40 years old, a diabetic, and on dialysis due to complete renal (kidney) failure.
He has had three surgeries on his arms to improve his veins to the point where he can have dialysis done via two IVs in his arm, rather than with two tubes currently hanging out of his chest. (one to his heart, and another to his lungs)
Most people don't notice the tubes in his chest if he wears a shirt with sleeves,
but it's hard not to notice the multitude of scars on his forearms,
and even harder to miss the large bulge of a hose recently inserted beneath the skin of his left arm to facilitate the tri-weekly procedure.
But Perry is a joyful soul that revels in messing with people's minds.
(can't imagine why he and I get along so well
)
so he can't simply tell people what is wrong with him.
This week a young, pretty, and very naive blonde girl at Quizno's asked him about his scars, and especially the very odd sub-dermal bulge.
He began by telling the girl that he was "deformed".
This of course piqued her curiosity, (much as it was meant to) so she probed further.
He said
"Well, I'd tell you about it, but nobody ever believes me when I tell them, so, yanno..." and he shrugs it off, as though he had no intention of telling her anything more.
Now she's completely on the hook and hanging on his every word.
At this point he invites her to cup her hand over the tube and feel it.
When you touch this tube you can very clearly feel the flow of his blood, and the thrum of his heart, as though it were a storm drain gushing with gallons per minute.
It's a very biological feeling.
The thing feels as though it has a life of it's own.
Timidly she puts out her hand, and places it over his forearm for a few seconds......before jerking her hand back, screaming in terror, and fleeing into the back of the store to recompose herself.
Perry and his dad left the store without telling the poor girl that he was messing with her....so now when he goes in, she doesn't want to talk to him anymore.
The last time he saw her, he raised two fingers in a V and said to her
"I come in peace"
There are a thousand reasons why I love this guy like a brother.
This is just one of the most recent.
On to Volume II
To tell you this story, I first need to give you some background.
One of my best friends in the world is a very sick guy....
sick both in the "ill" sense of the word,
and in the mentally warped sense.
Perry is 40 years old, a diabetic, and on dialysis due to complete renal (kidney) failure.
He has had three surgeries on his arms to improve his veins to the point where he can have dialysis done via two IVs in his arm, rather than with two tubes currently hanging out of his chest. (one to his heart, and another to his lungs)
Most people don't notice the tubes in his chest if he wears a shirt with sleeves,
but it's hard not to notice the multitude of scars on his forearms,
and even harder to miss the large bulge of a hose recently inserted beneath the skin of his left arm to facilitate the tri-weekly procedure.
But Perry is a joyful soul that revels in messing with people's minds.
(can't imagine why he and I get along so well
so he can't simply tell people what is wrong with him.
This week a young, pretty, and very naive blonde girl at Quizno's asked him about his scars, and especially the very odd sub-dermal bulge.
He began by telling the girl that he was "deformed".
This of course piqued her curiosity, (much as it was meant to) so she probed further.
He said
"Well, I'd tell you about it, but nobody ever believes me when I tell them, so, yanno..." and he shrugs it off, as though he had no intention of telling her anything more.
Now she's completely on the hook and hanging on his every word.
(with that much bloodflow through a huge tube of course it's comparatively hot.)Perry said:
At this point he invites her to cup her hand over the tube and feel it.
When you touch this tube you can very clearly feel the flow of his blood, and the thrum of his heart, as though it were a storm drain gushing with gallons per minute.
It's a very biological feeling.
The thing feels as though it has a life of it's own.
Timidly she puts out her hand, and places it over his forearm for a few seconds......before jerking her hand back, screaming in terror, and fleeing into the back of the store to recompose herself.
Perry and his dad left the store without telling the poor girl that he was messing with her....so now when he goes in, she doesn't want to talk to him anymore.
The last time he saw her, he raised two fingers in a V and said to her
"I come in peace"
There are a thousand reasons why I love this guy like a brother.
This is just one of the most recent.
On to Volume II
[flush] [walks in without washing my hands] Hi guys 